Belarus-Poland crisis: human rights of trapped migrants are paramount, says UN
Amid growing concerns about the plight of migrants, refugees and asylum seekers at the Poland-Belarus border, UN agencies on Friday urged all parties to respect their human rights and to refrain from using them for political ends.
The development follows news footage earlier in the week showing migrants located between the countries, attempting to dodge teargas to make their way through razor wire, following weeks of rising tension.
“It is a terrible situation, we are seeing people in terrible circumstances, in the bitter cold, even reports that people have died,” said Liz Throssell, spokesperson, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). “And that’s why it is really so important. This is why the High Commissioner has spoken out and other UN agencies have spoken out really clearly about this. The human rights of migrants and refugees have to come first. It is really important they must be respected under international human rights refugee law, but as for the political dimension to this, I would leave that to others to address that.”
Echoing that message, UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesperson Shabia Mantoo told journalists in Geneva that the human rights and the safety of refugees and migrants were “paramount…we do believe that we have said it many times that refugees and asylum seekers and migrants to achieve political ends is unacceptable and must stop and that is completely deplorable.”
The border became a flashpoint after the European Union imposed sanctions on Belarus on the basis of alleged grave human rights violations there, and the diversion of a commercial flight between two EU nations by Belarus in May, in order to remove a leading dissident, according to news reports.
In recent weeks, UN rights chief Michelle Bachelet also expressed concern at “persistent allegations” of “widespread and systematic torture of protesters” in Belarus, following the crackdown on protests at the re-election of President Alexander Lukashenko in August last year.
Highlighting that the human rights of the migrants and refugees should be fully respected “regardless of their nationality, status or circumstance”, Ms. Throssell added that the “strong security focus and politically charged responses on both sides - and that includes the increased deployment of troops and accompanying inflammatory rhetoric - they only exacerbate the vulnerability and risks that migrants and refugees face.”
Responding to questions over unconfirmed reports that migrants have been subjected to mock executions by soldiers, Ms. Throssell noted that OHCHR was following developments “very closely…we do not have access there, so the reports that you’ve been hearing, we are not in a position to confirm them”.
ends
STORY: Belarus-Poland Crisis – OHCHR, UNHCR
TRT: 2 mins 11s
SOURCE: UNTV CH
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
ASPECT RATIO: 16:9
DATELINE: 12 November 2021 GENEVA, SWITZERLAND
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